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Arne Slot’s Reds aim to extend their title lead at Anfield but could face difficult test

George Flood|Jonathan Gorrie49 seconds ago

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Liverpool will be hoping to extend their title lead as they return to Premier League action at Anfield this afternoon.

Liverpool brushed aside Girona in midweek to seal their Champions League progress and quickly get back to winning ways after that thrilling six-goal draw at Newcastle, though could face another potentially tough test from confident Fulham today.

Marco Silva’s side have impressed so far this season and held Arsenal to a deserved draw last time out, though they’ve won just one of their last 14 matches against today’s opponents.

Cody Gakpo replaces Darwin Nunez for the hosts as Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa return to the squad, while Jorge Cuenca makes his first league start for the Cottagers.

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Liverpool vs Fulham latest news

Kick-off: 3pm GMT | Anfield How to watch Liverpool team news: Gakpo replaces Nunez Fulham team news: Cuenca makes first league start Score prediction1 minute agoAlisson makes long-awaited Anfield return

From the warm-ups, it looks like Luis Diaz will be moving over to play through the middle for Liverpool today with no Darwin Nunez, with Mo Salah on the right and Cody Gakpo slotting in down the left flank.

Also a great reception for Alisson as he makes his first Anfield appearance in the Premier League since the shock 1-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest on September 14 - Liverpool’s only home defeat of the season in any competition.

The dominant Reds have won nine games in a row at home now, with Slot and Salah named as the Premier League manager and player of the month respectively for November.

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8 minutes agoArne Slot explains Liverpool attacking selection

In his pre-match interview with Sky Sports, Arne Slot denies that he’s dropped Darwin Nunez today due to form reasons with the Uruguayan having scored just once in his last 10 appearances.

Instead, he says it’s been common for him all season to rotate the members of his attack not named Mo Salah, with Nunez, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo all swapping in and out.

Slot was furious with Liverpool’s performance against Girona in midweek despite their 1-0 win sealed by a second-half Salah penalty, and insists his team must be much more aggressive out of possession today or will likely be made to pay by Fulham.

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14 minutes agoBad omens for Fulham

Fulham fans will have fond memories of their shock 1-0 triumph at Anfield back in March 2021, when Mario Lemina struck the winner for Scott Parker’s men just before half-time.

But that it as good as it’s got for them against Liverpool in recent years and is the only time they have managed to beat them in the last 14 match-ups across all competitions.

The Reds have won nine of the last 12 league meetings, including at Anfield last December when late goals from Wataru Endo and Trent Alexander-Arnold secured a thrilling comeback win in a 4-3 epic notable for being the game in which Joel Matip sustained his season-ending injury before leaving in the summer.

Fulham did manage to hold Liverpool to a 1-1 home draw in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup back in January, but they had lost the first leg 2-1 at Anfield and exited on aggregate.

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35 minutes agoThree Fulham changes as Cuenca makes first Premier League start

Three changes from Fulham to the side that drew with Arsenal at Craven Cottage last weekend, with summer signing Jorge Cuenca making his first Premier League start in the heart of defence in place of the suspended Calvin Bassey.

Marco Silva has dropped both Emile Smith Rowe and Adama Traore to the bench, with former Liverpool winger Harry Wilson getting the nod instead along with Andreas Pereira.

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40 minutes agoGakpo replaces Nunez with Jota and Chiesa back in Liverpool squad

So Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa both do make the bench for Liverpool this afternoon.

Arne Slot makes just one change from the team that beat Girona in the Champions League in midweek, with the misfiring Darwin Nunez making way for Cody Gakpo in attack.

Otherwise it’s as you were, with Alisson making his first Premier League start since early October after returning from his hamstring injury in Spain.

Joe Gomez continues alongside captain Virgil van Dijk at centre-back with no Ibrahima Konate, while the midfield trio is unchanged with Alexis Mac Allister suspended.

Youngsters Tyler Morton and Trey Nyoni are both back on the bench, while Vitezslav Jaros, James McConnell and James Norris all drop out.

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53 minutes agoFulham team

Starting XI: Leno, Tete, Diop, Cuenca, Robinson, Berge, Lukic, Wilson, Pereira, Iwobi, Jimenez

Subs: Benda, Castagne, Sessegnon, King, Smith Rowe, Godo, Traore, Muniz, Vinicius

1 hour agoLiverpool team

Subs: Kelleher, Endo, Nunez, Chiesa, Elliott, Jota, Morton, Quansah, Nyoni

1 hour agoLineups on the way

Official lineups from Anfield will be dropping very shortly.

Stay tuned...

1 hour agoSilva hails Fulham work ethic after impressive run

It’s been an impressive first half of the season for Fulham, who sit in 10th after 15 games with 23 points - their second-best tally at this stage of a Premier League campaign ever and highest since 2003/04.

Marco Silva is perhaps the division’s most underrated manager, though has insisted the club’s improvements are down to sheer work ethic throughout.

"I don't see football or success in football without hard work, that is the first thing," Silva said.

"It's been one of the reasons why everything has been going well the last three or four seasons.

Everybody works really hard, it's the demands from ourselves in the football club - they are high.

"If you work hard every single day, the standards and demands they are high, of course you are able to respond in this league, that is so tough and is so difficult with the best players and the best managers in the world and some of the best clubs too.

"The quality of the players, we work with them.

Being able to keep a good platform inside, even if you have been losing some key players, but at the same time adding good players for our squad too.

"Everything together is giving us the chance to perform the way we've been performing and to be able until now - I know it's the beginning of December with a lot of fights and big games ahead of us - but it has been really good to see the way the team is responding."

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1 hour agoSlot defends Nunez but admits standards slipped

Arne Slot has delivered his public backing to striker Darwin Nunez, whose struggles in front of goal continued in the Champions League in midweek.

The Uruguayan international has now scored just three times across all competitions this season and faced plenty of criticism.

Slot urged Reds fans to get behind Nunez, but also acknowledged that he let his standards slip against Girona on Tuesday.

"All our players feel the support of our fans but he is definitely one of them,” Slot said.

“Mo (Salah) is scoring so many goals he likes the support of the fans but doesn't really need it at the moment," he said.

"We all saw they did something with him when he missed a few chances on Tuesday and everyone needs an arm around you, either from a team-mate, the fans or your manger.

"But I also made it clear to him that he is not only judged on the goals he scores, he is also judged on the team performance and he adds something to the team performance as well with his work-rate and how much he does winning the ball back high up the pitch.

"Ideally he would have scored a few goals more.
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